Drug dispensing apparatuses for drug preparation capable of dispensing drugs of various forms are provided (see, for example, patent document No. 1). The document discloses an apparatus for dispensing drugs for preparation, provided with a large number of drug cassettes accommodating drugs and a dispensing/transporting mechanism for retrieving a desired drug from the drug cassette accommodating the desired drug and transporting the retrieved drug to a predetermined position. The dispensing/transporting mechanism is provided with a friction member responsible for dispensing drugs. A large number of projections are formed on the friction surface facing the drug cassette. The friction member is driven upward or diagonally upward. The apparatus has extensive applications so long as it is provided with the friction surface, regardless of different forms and hardness of drugs.
There is also available an apparatus for dispensing drugs for preparation, designed to dispense various drugs for preparation by sucking in a drug for dispensing (see, for example, patent document No. 2). The apparatus is provided with a large number of drug cassettes stored in a rotatable container and a retrieval mechanism for retrieving drugs by sucking in a drug from a drug cassette brought to a position for retrieval. By fixing the retrieving mechanism and allowing it to be shared by multiple cassettes, the structure of the drug cassettes, which are large in number, is simplified. There is no need to install pipes for sucking in drugs in various places, either.
There is also available a powder medicine supplying apparatus capable of configuring the condition of vibration automatically (see, for example, patent document No. 3). The apparatus is provided with a powder medicine feeder for feeding powder medicine by vibration, a controlling means for configuring the intensity of vibration in accordance with the type and weight of powder medicine, and a correcting means for correcting the configuration in accordance with the characteristics of the powder medicine feeder. Further, the apparatus is provided with an input means for entering the type and weight of powder medicine, a first configuration determining means for referring to the type of powder medicine so as to determine a predetermined category defined according to the grain size, and a second configuration determining means for determining the intensity of vibration in accordance with the category determined by the first configuration determining means. By correcting the intensity of vibration, which is configured in accordance with the type of powder medicine, in accordance with the characteristics of the powder feeder, tolerance requirements for individual powder feeders are made less severe and differences in them are canceled.
There is also available a medicine storage apparatus capable of making available a pharmaceutical product in one action, returning the product without disrupting the arrangement and keeping track of storage status properly (see, for example, patent document No. 4). The apparatus is provided with a large number of drug cassettes which align pharmaceutical products for storage, a support means which holds an array of the cassettes, wherein a mouth is formed in the cassette to allow extracting a pharmaceutical product from the cassette or forcing a pharmaceutical product into the cassette. A biasing means for biasing the accommodated pharmaceutical product toward the mouth is also provided. The support means holds the cassette with the mouth being exposed. The apparatus is also provided with a counting means for counting the number of pharmaceutical products stored. With this structure, pharmaceutical products can be manually and directly retrieved from and stored in the cassette. The number of pharmaceutical products in the cassettes is counted automatically.
There is also available a pharmaceutical product storage apparatus capable of individual shuttering so that storage according to the category and selective dispensing is performed easily and properly by a manual operation (see, for example, patent document No. 5). The apparatus is provided with multiple containers each provided with an opening covered by an openable and closable cover member so that pharmaceutical products are retrieved and stored via the opening. The apparatus is further provided with multiple drive means provided in respective containers to activate and open the associated shutter member, multiple indicators provided in respective containers to display at least a one-digit number, and a control device which selects one or multiple containers in accordance with pharmaceutical product dispensing information so as to activate the drive means associated with the selection and cause the indicator associated with the selection to display the number of products retrieved. With this structure, the operation of opening the shutter member and the counting of the number of products retrieved, as well as the selection of a pharmaceutical product stored according to the category, are performed automatically. Thus, the location of a desired pharmaceutical product is immediately known and the product is brought to a retrievable state concurrently. In addition to this, visual guidance to the location is provided.
As described, in the case of non-packaged powder medicine, a vibration-assisted feeder is used in combination with weight measurement so that a desired amount is supplied. In the case of drugs that can be grasped easily such as ampouled injection medicines, vibration is not utilized. Drugs are aligned for storage in cassettes, and the biasing means advances the accommodated drugs so that the drugs are taken out one by one from the queue or ejected by an automatic mechanism. Vibration is not utilized, either, if the drugs are individually packaged as in the case of PTP-packaged drugs. Drugs are aligned for storage in cassettes and are taken out one by one from the queue. Pharmaceutical product storage apparatuses in which individual shuttering and selective dispensing are performed manually is capable of providing guidance on the number of products retrieved. However, such apparatuses do not align products for storage so that it cannot be known whether retrieval takes place.    [patent document No. 1]    JP 2000-024083 (page 1)    [patent document No. 2]    JP 2000-167023 (page 1)    [patent document No. 3]    JP 2001-097532 (page 1)    [patent document No. 4]    JP 2001-198190 (page 1)    [patent document No. 5]    JP 2004-187958 (page 1)    [patent document No. 6]    JP 2001-198194 (FIG. 5, FIG. 11)    [patent document No. 7]    JP 2004-148036 (page 1, FIG. 4)
Meanwhile, PTP-packaged drugs, even as they are individually packaged, are thin and irregular in cross section. As such, it is not necessarily easy to properly grasp the one at the head of the queue of drugs aligned for storage. The ejecting mechanism can be simplified only in a limited way if automatization is achieved by a mechanism for grasping or absorbing drugs. To eliminate a biasing means for advancing accommodated drugs, there would be required, for example, a mechanism for translating the absorbing mechanism instead.